Lana Del Rey’s Cover of a Madonna Song Is So Much Better Than the Original
Lana Del Rey covered a song from Madonna‘s most famous movie. Del Rey is so much better suited to the tune than the Material Girl ever was. Interestingly, Del Rey explained why she decided to cover the track in the first place and it had nothing to do with her feelings about Madonna. Instead, Del Rey intended her cover as a tribute to another prominent musician.
A song written for Madonna’s movie ‘Evita’ inspired a great cover
Madonna’s movie Evita is based on the musical of the same name by Broadway legends Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Most of the songs in Evita were from the original stage show, with the exception of “You Must Love Me,” which Lloyd Webber and Rice crafted for the film.
Madonna’s song performance works well on a technical level. Through Evita, the Queen of Pop proved she was a great singer, even if her early hits hadn’t made that clear. However, Madonna’s “You Must Love Me” was still missing something.
“You Must Love Me” has a double meaning. On one level, the tune is Evita Perón saying that her husband, Juan Perón, clearly loves her because his behavior proves he cares about her. On the other hand, the song is about Evita begging her husband to love her because she’s in a state of emotional desperation. That’s the wordplay in the phrase, “You must love me.”
Lana Del Rey’s cover is more vulnerable than the original
Madonna is a talented singer, but she’s a little too authoritative for a deeply needy song like “You Must Love Me.” With songs like “Material Girl,” “Express Yourself,” and “Erotica,” the Queen of Pop positioned herself as having control over her relationships with men. On the other hand, Del Rey has often positioned herself as heartbroken and subservient. When she sings “You Must Love Me,” the tragedy of the tune feels so much more authentic and natural. She could have written the song herself.
Plenty of modern pop singers have taken inspiration from Madonna. Queen of Pop definitely paved the way for the brazen sexuality of some of Del Rey’s hits. Despite this, Del Rey revealed she covered “You Must Love Me” out of her love for Lloyd Webber rather than Madonna.
Lana Del Rey sang ‘You Must Love Me’ as a tribute to 1 of her inspirations
A 2018 article from The Fader quoted Del Rey’s statement about “You Must Love Me.” “Andrew Lloyd Webber has been one of my primary inspirations in music, so to do a cover of one of his songs is a dream,” she said. “I especially love this particular song, ‘You Must Love Me,’ because of how unique the melody is. I’ve been incredibly inspired by all of Andrew’s work from Phantom of the Opera to Evita.”
Del Rey’s songs don’t sound too much like musical theater, much less the bombastic genre-busting of Lloyd Webber. On the other hand, her tunes express a lot of the intense emotion present in the Lloyd Webber canon. Considering that Evita is set in the 1950s and much of Del Rey’s music is inspired by that era, Del Rey made a great decision when she recorded the song.
Madonna and Del Rey are both great artists but only one made “You Must Love Me” her own.
